ThunderBolt - Alumni & Friends Newsletter

Thunder Update

Pre-season honors

Beyond Sports Network (BSN) has announced that Trine University football senior kicker Tyler Keck (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial) has been named to the Preseason Division III All America Second Team.

BSN selected Preseason All America Team for the FBS, FCS, D2, D3, and NAIA. Athletes were chosen based on awards won, statistics, video, and SID recommendations mostly from the 2012 season.

At the conclusion of the 2012 season Keck was named to the BSN All America Third Team after also being named to the All-MIAA First Team and D3football.com All-North Region Third Team honors.

Keck was one of just two players honored from the MIAA.

Keck finished off his junior season tied for 38th in the nation in field goals per game and leading the conference in scoring with 6.0 points per game. Keck also connected on 33-of-34 point after attempts.

For his career, Keck has connected on 11-of-16 field goal attempts and 67-of-70 PAT attempts.

National honors

It was a season of many firsts for Trine University athletics, including the softball team getting its first-ever All-Americans in the sister duo of Carly Searles and Andi Gasco. The spring season also brought Trine’s second NCAA track All-American in Tyler Bourdo. In all, Trine had seven athletes across five different sports named All-American throughout the year.

Searles, an outfielder, was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) First Team and Gasco was named to the Second Team as a pitcher. The two were the only players from the conference to earn the distinction. According to the list of NFCA All-American on its website, since the selections began in 1986, Searles and Gasco became the first pair of siblings to earn All-American honors in the same season while at the same institution.

Bourdo joins former runner Russell Dill as the only All-Americans since the Thunder became an NCAA school in 2004. Bourdo placed eighth at nationals, giving him the final spot on the All-American team.

The softball team also had six players, the max allowed, selected to the NFCA All-Central Regional team. Searles and Gasco were joined on the first team by senior Lauren Harris and sophomore Amy Newell on the first team. Senior Sarah Belote was named to the second team while sophomore Rachel Harris earned third team honors.

Academic All-American

Sophomore softball pitcher Bree Fuller became just the third student-athlete in school history to be named a Capital One Academic All-America®. Fuller was named to the Division III Softball Third Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

An exercise science major, Fuller holds a 3.88 grade point average and was one of just three sophomores named to the first, second or third teams. The right-hander stepped up in her second season for the Thunder with a 15-1 record, including getting the victory in the MIAA Tournament championship game and a win over Mount Union in the NCAA Angola Softball Regional. Fuller was also named to the All-MIAA First Team at the conclusion of the season.

Fuller becomes the first non-football player to earn Capital One Academic All-America® honors. Former football players Jeremy Howard (2009) and Tyler Terry (2010) were previously named to the second teams.

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

Spring Sports Revisited

Baseball
The baseball team finished the 2013 season with a 25-20 overall record, tying the school record for wins in a season which it set last season. The Thunder finished third in the MIAA and for the second straight season advanced to the MIAA Tournament. After dropping the opening game to Adrian, the Thunder fought back to force a winner-take-all finale with the Bulldogs after defeating Hope, Calvin and Adrian. The championship would come down to extra innings, and although the Thunder were unable to advance to the NCAA Tournament, the future looks bright for the squad as it loses just two of eight starters.

Senior closer Nick Cocanower finished the season 11th in the nation with 10 saves. Fellow senior Phil Stakely also finished the season near the top in the nation allowing just 5.86 hits per game, which was 18th. Other players ranking near the top included sophomore Ethan Prebynski, who was 40th in sacrifice bunts, and senior Tom Wilder, who was 52nd with 16 doubles. As a team, the Trine pitching staff finished 25th in fewest hit batters, 56th in ERA and 71st in walked allowed. The team was also 39th in sacrifice bunts.

Softball
The softball team steamrolled through MIAA play, finishing the season undefeated at 16-0 in conference action to win its fifth conference title in seven years. The Thunder would follow with a sweep of the MIAA Tournament, defeating Hope, Alma and Adrian in the championship game to also claim its fifth title and a berth in the NCAA Regional Tournament.

Trine entered the tournament ranked second in the nation, the highest ever for any team in any sport in the history of the school. Hosting the regional for the first time in school history, the Thunder received the top seed. Though the Thunder fell in the opening round, the team bounced back to defeat Mount Union and Capital before falling to eventual champion Anderson. Carly Searles and Leah Hall were named to the All-Tournament team.

As a team, Trine led Division III in scoring, home runs per game and slugging percentage. The team was also second in batting average and triples per game and sixth in doubles per game and winning percentage. Individually, senior Andi Gasco led the nation in home runs and home runs per game, was second in slugging and runs batted in per game and eighth in triples. Her sister, sophomore Searles, ranked second in triples and runs per game, third in triples per game and fifth in stolen bases. Senior Sarah Belote finished sixth in home runs and seventh in home runs per game while sophomore Rachel Harris was ninth in home runs. In addition, sophomore pitcher Bree Fuller finished the season seventh in hits allowed per game.

Men’s lacrosse
The Trine men’s lacrosse team finished the year 8-8 in the first year of play in the MIAA and qualified third for the MIAA Tournament with a 4-2 record. During conference play, Trine held both Calvin and Alma to just one goal. The Thunder also outscored opponents, 77-44, during MIAA games. The eight wins for the team is the second most in the history of the program. In the conference tournament, the Thunder fell to Albion, 15-9, but with losing just four seniors, the Thunder will look to make another run at the conference title next season.

Nationally, junior Rob Brzezinski finished third in Division III in face-off win percentage and 22nd in groundballs per game. As a team, the Thunder finished second in face-off win percentage and groundballs.

Women’s lacrosse
Despite a tough early season, the Trine women’s lacrosse team rolled off three straight wins late in the season to finish the year 5-6. The team was in the hunt for the final spot in the MIAA Tournament, but fell in double overtime to Hope, 12-11, in the final game of the season. After falling to Olivet in the first game of the season, the women took revenge by claiming a game against the Comets, 8-6, late in the year. The squad also picked up wins over Albion along with three nonconference games over Wilmington, Loras (IA) and Dubuque (IA).

Senior Emily Canepa led the Thunder as she ranked sixth in Division III in caused turnovers and was 17th in groundballs. As a team, Trine finished the season 16th in the country in caused turnovers. Sophomore goalie Grace Garrett finished in the top-100 in the nation in goals against average, saves per game and save percentage.

Track
For the first time since 2008, the track and field team sent an individual to the Division III National Championships and for the first time since moving to the NCAA in 2004 sent a relay team. Sophomore Tyler Bourdo qualified for the meet in the 400m and placed eighth in the meet to earn a spot on the podium. Bourdo was also a part of the 4x400m relay team along with seniors Dan Linder and Nate Konzen and freshman Luke Fimreite that qualified for nationals and finish 16th at the meet.

The rest of the Trine track and field team finished out the season at the MIAA Field Day where the men’s team finished third and the women were seventh. For the men, it was their best finish since joining the conference.

Three individuals won events during the two-day meet. In the 400m, Bourdo won with a conference record time of 47.97. In the hammer throw, sophomore Dakota Bagwell took gold with a throw of 45.74m. Junior Lincoln Frey also took gold in the pole vault, clearing a height of 4.22m. Trine also grabbed gold in the 4x400m relay with the team of Bourdo, Linder, Konzen and Fimreite.

For the women, sophomore Trisha King turned in the top performance picking up silver in the 400m and eighth in the 200m. Senior Annalisa Krug took fourth in the 800m and the 4x400m relay of King and Krug along with senior Sannie Anderson and freshman Kassandra Ellsworth placed third.

In the field events, senior Courtney Stahl picked up a third in the shot put and fellow senior Danielle Reenders was third in the javelin.

Men’s golf
The men’s golf team closed out its season with the three-round MIAA Automatic Qualifying Tournament. At the first AQ tournament, the team finished third. After winning the second AQ to pull within nine strokes of Calvin, the Thunder would again take third in the final tournament to finish the spring season third with a team score of 965. Junior Nolan Eli took medalist honors in the second round with a score of 78. The squad hosted the A.C. Eddy Invitational and won with a team score of 290 as senior Pat Wolcott took home medalist honors firing a 1-under-par 70.

Women’s golf
Although the Thunder women’s golf team played in just three spring events, the golfers showed they will be making a case in the fall to qualify for the MIAA tournament as they won two of the tournaments. The team took home the trophy at the Manchester and Franklin Spring Invitational events. Freshman Amy Worthington came back ready to play in the spring season after an injury in the fall. Worthington took the medalist honors at both the Manchester and Franklin events and was also fourth at the Capital Purple & White Invitational. At Manchester, Trine took home four of the top five individual spots with freshmen Mikala Freeland and Amanda McPherron tied for second and Kelcey Swisher fourth.

Men’s tennis
Men′s tennis closed out the season with several close matches as the team finished the year 5-11. The squad dropped two tough 5-4 decisions to close out the season, but nearly knocked off a pair of co-MIAA champions in Calvin as Hope as it took three matches from each. The team also finished second at the Trine Men’s Invitational tournament as freshman Caleb Knust won the No.1 singles bracket. Knust also was a perfect 6-0 in singles action during the MIAA season including knocking off nationally ranked Bobby Cawood of Hope and Peter Rothstein of Kalamazoo. Knust would finish runner-up in the MIAA Flighted Tournament as well as placing second in the doubles tournament with senior Dan Desper.

Women’s tennis
The Thunder women’s tennis team had its best season since becoming an NCAA school as it went 9-9 in dual matches and picked up three wins in conference action, tying its best mark. The team picked up victories over Adrian, Olivet and Alma and dropped two close matches to Saint Mary’s and Calvin. The team also won the Rose-Hulman Invitational. The Thunder were led by junior Jessica Huhnke who went 6-2 in conference singles action and 16-6 overall on the year.

All MIAA

In all, 22 spring athletes were named All-MIAA, including four who were named the Most Valuable in their respective sport.

In women’s lacrosse, senior Canepa and sophomore Grace Garrett headlined the All-MIAA team. Garrett was named the conference’s first-ever Defensive Player of the Year. Garrett also earned All-MIAA First Team honors.

The men’s track team had four athletes named to the All-MIAA team, including the Most Valuable Track Athlete in Bourdo. He was joined on the All-MIAA team by senior Dustin Stutzman, junior Lincoln Frey and sophomore Dakota Bagwell.

The softball team swept the MIAA MVP awards for the second straight season. Senior catcher Belote was named the Most Valuable Position Player and senior Gasco was named the Most Valuable Pitcher for the second straight season.

Belote and Gasco were named to the All-MIAA First Team along with sophomores Rachel Harris, Fuller and Searles. The Thunder also had four players elected to the All-MIAA Second Team in senior Lauren Harris, junior Haleigh Daniels, sophomore Newell and freshman Kaitlyn Clark.

This is the fourth straight season the Trine University baseball team had a player named to the All-MIAA First and Second teams and the sixth straight season Trine has had multiple players named All-MIAA. Senior pitcher Phil Stakely was named to the First Team while sophomore Carter Stafford earned Second Team honors.

In the first-ever men’s lacrosse All-MIAA team, the Thunder had three honorees. Named to the first team was junior Brzezinski. Named to the All-MIAA Second Team was senior Dalton Madsen and freshman Jordan Backer.

Rounding out the spring All-MIAA selections were a pair of tennis players in freshman Knust and junior Huhnke who were each named to the First Team. Knust made it the fifth straight season for a Trine men’s player to be represented while Huhnke was named for the second straight season. Huhnke also becomes the first women’s tennis player to be named a multi All-MIAA selection.